Bursa opens higher, retreats on volatile sentiment
2026-03-26 - 01:50
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher but pared its gains thereafter despite a positive overnight performance on Wall Street, with investor sentiment expected to remain volatile in the near term. At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.51 of a point to 1,716.17 from Wednesday’s close of 1,716.68. The key index opened 2.78 points higher at 1,719.46. Market breadth was negative, with 187 losers leading 106 gainers. A total of 260 counters were unchanged, 2,205 untraded, and 76 suspended. Turnover stood at 154.26 million shares worth RM124.57 million. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended higher amid a decline in crude oil prices, as Iran has received a 15-point proposal from the US to end the war. “We believe bargain hunting to emerge at the current range. Thus, expect the index to hover within the 1,710-1,720 range today,” he said. Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank added four sen to RM11.48, Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.91, CIMB rose one sen to RM7.90, Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.42, while IHH Healthcare slid five sen to RM8.94. On the most active list, Sunway Healthcare topped up 10 sen to RM2.22, Astro was flat at eight sen, TWL decreased half a sen to two sen, Handal Energy up half a sen to 3.5 sen, while Zetrix AI slipped two sen to 73 sen. Among the top gainers, Allianz added 36 sen to RM21.06, Petronas Chemicals rose 22 sen to RM5.68, Petronas Dagangan gained 12 sen to RM21.72, and Hong Leong Financial went up 10 sen to RM19.66. Top losers included Nestle, which slid 36 sen to RM97.64, United Plantations down 20 sen to RM33.40, Malaysian Pacific lost 12 sen to RM28.78, and Carmin Petroleum fell 10 sen to 34 sen. On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index narrowed 9.93 points to 12,326.0, the FBM Emas Index weakened 12.28 points to 12,462.56, and the FBM ACE Index lost 10.35 points to 4,359.95. The FBM 70 Index dropped 40.90 points to 16,922.86, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index contracted 13.76 points to 12,180.73. By sector, the Financial Services Index climbed 20.50 points to 20,590.12, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.03 points to 181.15. The Plantation Index fell 9.93 points to 8,569.52, while the Energy Index lost 0.91 of a point to 784.45.